Anxiety Cycle
What is the anxiety cycle?
1. An event that leads to anxiety
2. Ignore/Avoid the anxiety-producing event
3. Short-term relief because we avoided the anxiety-producing event
4. Increased anxiety with event due to past avoidance
Give 1 healthy coping skill and 1 unhealthy coping skill for anxiety
Any
Instant fixes for anxiety exist and are easy
False!
What is a phobia
a specific fear
Someone is trying to argue with you. What are healthy coping skills you can use?
Walk away, ask for them to speak to you kindly and have a productive conversation, do not argue back
Why is there an increase in anxiety when we avoid the anxiety-producing event?
Avoiding teaches us to avoid to feel better. Avoiding does not solve the problem
Why is arguing considered an unhealthy coping skill?
What could healthy coping skill could replace arguing?
causes fights and escalates the situation
communication in a calm, nonblaming manor
Anxiety is a bad feeling and whoever is feeling anxious is wrong
False!!
No feeling is wrong or bad
Name 3 different types of anxiety
generalized, phobias, social
You are invited to a sleepover but you only know one person there. How can you overcome this social anxiety situation?
Still go to the sleepover, realize this is an opportunity to make new friends.
Why is it important to be able to identify the anxiety cycle in our own lives?
To be able to identify, we are more able to make changes to stop the cycle
Scrolling on social media and comparing yourself to others is a healthy or unhealthy coping skill? Why?
Unhealthy, leads to negative thoughts
Using healthy coping skills can help relieve anxiety
TRUE
Everyone gets anxiety. When does having anxiety become a concern?
When you are having so much anxiety, it is hard to focus and continue with your daily activities
You have a fear of spiders. You walk into your room at home and see a spider near your bed. What would be an example of a healthy coping skill to use?
Take some deep breaths, grab a tissue or cover the spider with a cup, see if someone else in the house can take the spider outside
Give an example of the Anxiety Cycle
1. Phobias, fears, tests, speeches, etc.
2. avoid, skip school
3. feel better
4. Increased anxiety next time event occurs
Explain how sleeping can be a healthy AND an unhealthy coping skill.
When our body is tired, it needs to sleep. This is healthy. We do not want to overwork ourselves
Sleeping to avoid our feelings and problems is unhealthy.
You have no control over anxiety.
False.
You may not have control over anxiety itself, but you do have control over what you do with the anxiety and steps to decrease the anxiety
Name 4 physical symptoms when you are feeling anxious
increase heart rate, sweating, poor concentration,
You are about to give a speech to a class. All you can think about is how the crowd is going to judge you, you are going to forget your speech and you will never live this moment down. What are some things you can remember and do to calm your nerves?
Remind yourself the worst outcome is very unlikely to occur, deep breaths, positive affirmations, muscle relaxation.
How can you stop the anxiety cycle from continuing?
Stop avoiding the event that causes anxiety
Give one example for when fight, flight, and freeze are healthy coping skills (give 3 total examples)
Fight- safety
Flight- running from a bear, etc
Freeze- hiding
Research found that social media use influences an individual's mental health, such as anxiety and depression
True
Is anxiety ever helpful?
If so, give an example
YES!
Push you to study, prepare for upcoming event, practice for a sport, clean for parents, etc
Its been a rough day and your friend just keeps cracking jokes and not taking how you are feeling seriously. What are some things you can do?
Explain to your friend you do not appreciate what they are saying to you. You had a rough day and you would be appreciative if they took this conversation seriously